The DWmegawad Club plays: Micro-Slaughter Community Project & Haste

[tonytheparrot]

(Played on UV with pistol starts on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 16: Beluga Sanctuary by Antares031

100% kills, 48% items and  100% secrets

Time: 6:06

 

I guess we can't have an CP without Antares making a blue map! Fortunately, it doesn't matter as the map is absolutely gorgeous, the references to real-life skyscapers, lighting, architecture and colors are jaw-dropping, especially when combined with Eris's midi, which fits the map perfectly and screams final level vibes. It is definetely a more SWTW inspired aesthetic than a Struggle inspired one, which is hinted at in the title. Combat wise, the map is organized around 4 fights: After wasting the first cyber, archie and doing that platforming section, you arrive in the first fight with 2 cybers, archviles, mancubi, chaingunners a lots of revs. Make the cybers infight the revs, clear out the red and yellow guys and finish off the goats when they killed the skeletons. Then you need to get 2 keys that you can grab in any order, the yellow key is obtained after a circular arena with a ton of imps, 2 archies and 2 cybers, while the red key area is in a square-shaped one that contains revs, archies and cybers. In both encounters, prioritize the arch-viles, don't get overwhelmed, and finish off the cybers at the end. Both of them are incredibly entertaining, and it's not even the end. The final fight teleports you in an area swimming in damaging liquid, gives you a rad suit and puts you against 4 cybers, each guarding a switch, don't kill them all at the same time as pressing one of the switches spawns 4 cybers guarding the exit platform, and lots of hell knights and revs on the ground floor. Take care of the arena fast to maximize the suit's efficiency, press the other switches after killing everything, telefrag the last 4 cybers on the platform, do a platforming section and reach the exit. This map is a powerhouse, it's visuals, atmosphere, music and combat are something else, which makes it the best ending MSCP could have dreamed of.

 

Map 17:Epilogue Tour

 

Despite being a credits map, I just love it, teleporting to rooms of previous maps is not only a great idea, but it's somehow nostalgic, especially for the first maps. Map 14's room can trigger your PTSD tho. It's the best credits map I have ever seen, but just like with Duel, I don't think I can rank it with the other maps

 

My thoughts on MSCP will be posted after Haste is done.

 

 

Final MSCP Rankings:

Spoiler

Love:

Map 14

Map 8

Map 16

Map 13

Map 3

Map 6

Map 2

Really like:

Map 9

Map 15

Map 12

Map 5

Map 1

Like:

Map 4

Map 11

Map 7

Mediocre:

Map 10

Nice chuckle:

Map 31

Awesome Credits map:

Map 17

 

 

 

[Arwel]

MSCP map16 - Beluga Sanctuary by Antares031

UV, 100% kills, 1 secret, saveless until last fight, maybe dozen deaths overall

 

Welcoming player with awesome visuals and fresh palette, starting area is a huge hint of cyberdemon 2shotting, a skill which will indeed be useful countless times throughout the map. Without any dedicated practice, I struggle to pull the trick even once and it's still totally possible to beat the map without, just takes more time. Following a little parkour session showcasing background scenery really well, there is a sequence of beautifully laid out fights of moderate difficulty. And the closing number is a tough one, demanding pressing switches guarded by cyberdemons on an acid arena with only a single radsuit. 2-shooting with BFG is just perfect here, but even without, just basic resource management to eat cells and health powerups in time (making sure to leave some for when your suit effect ends) together with usual circle running are sufficient to beat this. Overall, for casual players, the map is fun, moderately challenging, and really outstanding in terms of architecture, palette and visuals. For speedrunners, it's also a great 2shooting practice map.

[Aurelius]

A big thank you to everyone dropping their thoughts on MAP15! Looking forward to the few who haven't, but I'm gonna be busy later this week so I thought I'd drop some thoughts where when I have a chance.

 

MAP15:

• This was probably my first properly non-linear map, as everything I've done before have mostly been linear with branching paths. Based on the commentary, I feel like I pulled it off adequately well. It was originally meatier, but I cut off some of the excess to focus on the essentials. I aimed the bulk of the challenge to be on the players aiming for a sub 5 minute run, which requires some route planning and solid execution. A more casual approach is definitely less intensive than the couple previous maps.
• The visual style was not consciously inspired by anything in particular, although I do think you can see the SD20x6 influences there, just in red (it's still probably my favorite Ribbiks set.) I went to great lengths to make all the floor detail using fake floors to smooth it all out (just to avoid that annoying bounciness).
• I chose Rosetta Stoned by Tool because it has fittingly eerie vibes while also providing some mental momentum, since the map is designed around fast progression.
• Regarding the path to the secret exit, it's a personal preference of mine that secrets are obscure and unexpected. I design mine with the assumption that some players will most likely never find them, and that it's more of an extra treat to those who do. Doom has some pretty set-in-stone conventions when it comes to secrets, but I prefer to break those conventions and experiment with more novel ideas. The switch in the ground isn't even a unique idea; you can find some in FCFF for example (and probably many more wads from the past). I do like to signpost my secrets in some way, which in this case meant color coding and a strategic placement of a torch (and yes, it is visible even with the statusbar if you look at it from the right angle). Also, the small cubby with the key is visible on the automap.
• And about the secret itself, there's actually a consistent way of getting through the "chasm on steroids" by simply not running. I saw Vortale do it on his stream, and he breezed through the thing with little to no effort. Granted, you might have to momentarily run when you're moving parallel to the trajectory of the rocket, but for the most part the cyberdemon is far enough away for you to just stroll your way through. Doing it in 5 minutes or less is, of course, a totally different ball game. Also, on lower difficulties the pathway is made wider with invisible border sectors rising up.
• Shoutout to @David Asaad for doing a sub 5 minute UV max, then doing it even better.

 

MAP31:

• It took me roughly a day to make this map. I threw it at the MSCP crew and asked if it'd work as a secret map, and enough people liked it so it was included.
• My intention was to play with player expectations, and the way people described it here and how decino did in his video is pretty much how I intended it. It's enough of a "challenge" from ammo management perspective to justify its existence (at least for pistol starters), but overall shouldn't require more than a couple of tries maximum to beat.
• The exit switch trickery was just me messing about, kinda as a curiosity to the voodoo doll nerds who like to see that sort of thing. It's not the cleanest implementation of that particular kind of sequenced switch, and I'm hoping to refine it going forward.
• @TomatoTom did a neat UV max of MAP31.

 

Had a lot of fun mapping for this project, and Bauul (and everyone else involved) did a phenomenal job. Glad to have seen people enjoy these maps, it's been a joy reading through the reviews and watching the playthroughs. Good luck with Haste!

Edited April 14, 2022 by Aurelius

[RHhe82]

MAP16: Beluga Sanctuary (+MAP17). HNTR, PS, 345/345 K, 0/1 S, 16/21 I. Comp. time 17:00.

 

We get a nice level for the finale, far more reasonable than some that came before, but also one with stunning vistas and slaughtery encounters. Only I didn’t like the beginning of the map. Never mind the lone cyberdemon road block (that on the first try I couldn’t take down, my usage of BFG isn’t that great, obviously), but the platforming section afterwards. Not that it’s long, not that it’s hard (for seasoned players), but still. Fun only begins after that.

 

I don’t know. It’s the visual outlook of the level. It looks gigantic. Enormous. The background scenery you don’t even get to access. It’s beautiful. But the combat’s fun too; I’m rambling here, I don’t know what to say. I loved most of the arenas, but I don’t know how I should have approached the last one. I took my time killing of sniping cyberdemons with BFG, what a chore, and only afterwards I maanged to summon the hordes. Good thing there were surplus radsuits. In any case, I think did this part wrong, I should have summoned the horde the first chance I get instead of chipping away the cybies. Gonna replay this one day, too, especially since I missed the only secret. I take it there was no way of retreating to earlier parts of the level from the final area?

 

After Beluga Sanctuary there’s only the end. The credits map, that takes you on a tour of all the levels (except MAP31) you have visited. It’s sweet. Too bad there’s no exit trigger, now I have to manually adjust DoomLauncher to show the mapset as having completed all 17 maps :P

 

Month is halfway thru, and I regret I don’t have infinite time. Even though I had miserable time at times, part of the misery came from the fact that I have limited time. It’s hard to really concentrate on learning the ropes of slaughterplay which was the intent of the mapset. What I have learned, I guess, is not to be afraid of slaughter. I guess I must have learned something about herding the hordes to make room for me to maneuver and not facerocket myself. It’s hard to say, and I think I’m gonna have hard time with Haste, anyway. Micro Slaughter Community Project was, in any case, a kick-ass wad set, and I enjoyed it more as a teacher wad than the first five or so maps of Rush — not that there’s anything wrong with that, either, but MSCP is such a quality wad.

[Arwel]

36 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

I take it there was no way of retreating to earlier parts of the level from the final area?

 

Near the very last actual exit you can jump down and on the sides there are teleports to earlier area, but you still probably won't be able to get to the secret from there.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Vrhrlv

[Thelokk]

36 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

A big thank you to everyone dropping their thoughts on MAP15! Looking forward to the few who haven't, but I'm gonna be busy later this week so I thought I'd drop some thoughts where when I have a chance.

 

MAP15:

• This was probably my first properly non-linear map, as everything I've done before have mostly been linear with branching paths. Based on the commentary, I feel like I pulled it off adequately well. It was originally meatier, but I cut off some of the excess to focus on the essentials. I aimed the bulk of the challenge to be on the players aiming for a sub 5 minute run, which requires some route planning and solid execution. A more casual approach is definitely less intensive than the couple previous maps.
• The visual style was not consciously inspired by anything in particular, although I do think you can see the SD20x6 influences there, just in red (it's still probably my favorite Ribbiks set.) I went to great lengths to make all the floor detail using fake floors to smooth it all out (just to avoid that annoying bounciness).
• I chose Rosetta Stoned by Tool because it has fittingly eerie vibes while also providing some mental momentum, since the map is designed around fast progression.
• Regarding the path to the secret exit, it's a personal preference of mine that secrets are obscure and unexpected. I design mine with the assumption that some players will most likely never find them, and that it's more of an extra treat to those who do. Doom has some pretty set-in-stone conventions when it comes to secrets, but I prefer to break those conventions and experiment with more novel ideas. The switch in the ground isn't even a unique idea; you can find some in FCFF for example (and probably many more wads from the past). I do like to signpost my secrets in some way, which in this case meant color coding and a strategic placement of a torch (and yes, it is visible even with the statusbar if you look at it from the right angle). Also, the small cubby with the key is visible on the automap.
• And about the secret itself, there's actually a consistent way of getting through the "chasm on steroids" by simply not running. I saw Vortale do it on his stream, and he breezed through the thing with little to no effort. Granted, you might have to momentarily run when you're moving parallel to the trajectory of the rocket, but for the most part the cyberdemon is far enough away for you to just stroll your way through. Doing it in 5 minutes or less is, of course, a totally different ball game. Also, on lower difficulties the pathway is made wider with invisible border sectors rising up.
• Shoutout to @David Asaad for doing a sub 5 minute UV max, then doing it even better.

 

MAP31:

• It took me roughly a day to make this map. I threw it at the MSCP crew and asked if it'd work as a secret map, and enough people liked it so it was included.
• My intention was to play with player expectations, and the way people described it here and how decino did in his video is pretty much how I intended it. It's enough of a "challenge" from ammo management perspective to justify its existence (at least for pistol starters), but overall shouldn't require more than a couple of tries maximum to beat.
• The exit switch trickery was just me messing about, kinda as a curiosity to the voodoo doll nerds who like to see that sort of thing. It's not the cleanest implementation of that particular kind of sequenced switch, and I'm hoping to refine it going forward.
• @TomatoTom did a neat UV max of MAP31.

 

Had a lot of fun mapping for this project, and Bauul (and everyone else involved) did a phenomenal job. Glad to have seen people enjoy these maps, it's been a joy reading through the reviews and watching the playthroughs. Good luck with Haste!

 

Pleasure was all mine to play! Best map in the set, in my opinion, just the right amount of challenge and lots of eye candy.

[Book Lord]

2 hours ago, Aurelius said:

And about the secret itself, there's actually a consistent way of getting through the "chasm on steroids" by simply not running. I saw Vortale do it on his stream, and he breezed through the thing with little to no effort.

 

That's why I called it a "stroller" exercise. I stopped falling when I stopped running, and still Mr. Cyber did not hit me!

[finnks13]

MAP16 - Beluga Sanctuary by antares031:

DEATHS - 6
A worthy finale to MSCP, especially in atmosphere. The aesthetics of this map are absolutely incredible, and it looks great - it did cause my game to lag quite badly in the beginning, but this really only affects the initial cyberdemon two-shot. There are four fights in this level, and they're fairly easy apart from the last one. The first fight throws you into a small arena with mostly turret enemies, and requires some cooperation from the two cyberdemons in order to beat, it's a well designed section and the damaging floor keeps you moving. The red key wing is my least favourite, you go into the arena and then run around in a circle for a bit while everything inevitably kills each other. The yellow key fight was better, the swarm of imps and occasional archviles was pretty fun to fight and having to keep the cyberdemon turrets in mind made this part less brain-off than the red key fight. I think all three of these fights have way too much health in them, a megapshere each would have  been plenty already, but there's multiple soulspheres and megapsheres in every fight which drops any challenge they could have had completely.

 

The finale is definitely the hardest and best part of the level, the cyberdemon crossfire is very punishing, especially the three turret cybers. I initially was a bit let down that killing the cyberdemons and pressing their switches just led to another horde, but then I realised that my radsuit was running out and I was on 20% damaging floor. I had to redo this fight a few times to get it right, by playing aggresively and trying to spawn the horde in as early as possible so my suit would last. I liked this fight, the high amount of health items added from it instead of detracting from it, and it served as a good finale to the wad as a whole.

 

MAP17 - Credits by Bauul:
I think this is the best credits map for a community project you could have really, showing off everyone's submissions in a short tour of the maps. I'm surprised you didn't remove the damaging floors, but I suppose it's the players fault if they choose to die in one of the pits. It definitely shows how memorable the maps here are, that (for better or worse) I was able to think to myself "Oh, this is the map that..." for every single map here.

 

Overall Thoughts on Micro-Slaughter Community Project:

I've been pretty harsh on a lot of MSCP, but I really like this wad. It has a lot of the same qualities that Scythe has for me, the short length of the maps and relatively easy (compared to most slaughterwads at least) difficulty means it's great fun to boot up and blast through. I played the first nine maps of MSCP in one session, and only really stopped because it was late and I had to get up for work the next morning, it's like popcorn in that respect, just really moreish. Since MSCP is a community project (clue's in the name!) there are a few maps that are obviously made by people who haven't really explored the genre much before, but I only see that as a good thing because it's always nice to see people trying new stuff when mapping and while I didn't like every map here, I wouldn't call any of them bad.

 

Micro Slaughter Community Project is a great wad, and one I would definitely recommend to newcomers to the genre alongside Rush and Combat Shock 2.

 

Top 5 Maps:

Map08 - The Three Kings by RonnieJamesDiner

Map09 - October Skeleton Appreciation by antares031

Map14 - Crippling Legion by Bdubzzz

Map13 - Technocratic Terror by Bridgeburner

Map06 - Slaughter Factory by Guardsoul

 

Overall Rankings:
 

Spoiler

Really Liked: MAP08, MAP09, MAP13, MAP14
Liked: MAP01, MAP03, MAP06, MAP12, MAP31, MAP16, MAP17
Mixed Opinions: MAP02, MAP05, MAP15
Boring: MAP04, MAP10
Didn't Like: MAP07, MAP11

 

[PeceMan]

Level 16, Beluga Sanctuary, by antares031

 

    You know what? That was great.

 

    On my first playthrough I IDDQD through the entirety of it. But now I managed to beat it (in HNTR, but it still counts). And with that,

    I've officially managed to beat the entirety of MSCP without cheats, in HNTR. And I had a lot of fun.

 

    This level is undeniably beautiful, and it really doesn't mind throwing hundreds of enemies at the player at once. It truly encapsulates

    the things I like about slaughter (beautiful, majestic maps; and pulse-pounding moment-to-moment action).

 

 

    I just noticed the picture on the starting menu is a landscape photo of map 16. Which I think fits perfectly. I think map 16 had the largest,

    most majestic backdrop of all the maps in the wad. Contested maybe by map 2, but that one wouldn't really make for a great main menu

    picture.

 

    The buildings in the backdrop are impressive. They aren't part of the skybox, they've all been created out of sectors. And that must've

    taken a lot of time and effort.

 

    Having said all that, the map was a bit laggy, which might be expected of a map this size, but it was still a bit annoying.

 

 

    It had some platforming, which I'm not a fan of, but it wasn't much, so I guess I don't mind.

 

    I don't like having to fight while on damaging floors, But the level was kind enough to provide multiple radiation suits. I still managed to run

    out of rad protection, but at that point there were only 3 revenants and 1 HK left.

 

    Also, since this is the final level in the wad, it makes sense for it to up the challenge. Using some platforing, and damaging floors, and placing

    multiple cyberdemons in every battle. 

 

    The first fight, against a Cyberdemon with very little dodging space, was a great way to start the last level in the wad.

 

 

 

    This level is truly a great representative of what MSCP offers. Heavy slaughter against hundreds of enemies, a beautiful, majestic landscape,

    well balanced fights, all with very intense pacing. And all of this is presented within a 10 to 15 minute package.

 

 

 

Level 17, Epilogue Tour, by Bauul

 

    I love the concept. The map takes you on a tour of some of the main arenas from each level, mentioning both the level name and the level's

    author. Most other wads just write a short outro text, thanking the player for playing. But this one has an entire outro map, which leaves the

    player with a satisfied aftertaste. It brings back pleasant memories from all around the wad.

 

 

    Having said that, I do have some notes.

 

    First of all, map 2 is incomplete. One of the main things from it was the funky decoration in place of a ceiling, with the complex light show.

    I guess maybe that space was very taxing and laggy, so they decided to leave it out of the compilation level?

 

    For level 10, I would've personally gone for the outdoors area instead of the indoors arena. I get that the most important fight takes place

    indoors, but I think the area that is the most memorable from the level is actually the one outdoors.

 

    On my first playthrough I actually got lost in the map 14 section. The teleporter just blends in with the floor texture, and the area is huge.

    I actually had to spend like 5 minutes just looking for the damn thing. I don't think there's much they could've done about this, but maybe

    lay some arrows, or place the text closer to the teleporter.

 

 

 

Final Ratings:

Spoiler

Five Star Maps:
        Map01, Fire in your Eyes;

        Map03, Cherry Blossom;

        Map09, October Skeleton Appreciation;

        Map13, Technocratic Terror;

        Map31, Duel;

        Map16, Beluga Sanctuary

 

Four Star Maps:

        Map02, Viridescent Synapse;

        Map04, Floody Hell;

        Map05, Marble in the Blood; 

        Map06, Slaughter Factory;

        Map07, Tarnished Luster;

        Map08, The Three Kings;

        Map10, Metal Head;

        Map12, Crossroads of Destruction;

        Map14, Crippling Legion;

        Map15, Sanguine

 

Three Star Maps:

        Map11, Team Rocket Slaughter

 

Two Star Maps:

        -

One Star Maps:

        -

N/A Maps:

        Map17, Epilogue Tour

 

[sandwedge]

Hey everyone, here's my final post for micro slaughter.  This was my first time playing along with doomworld, and I've only started recording and commentating my playthroughs recently, but I've had a lot of fun and it looks like some people even enjoyed the videos!  I've also enjoyed looking at everyone's posts to see how we experience things differently, or commiserating on the same things lol.  Unfortunately I probably won't be following along with Haste because honestly, it was hard to keep up with a new map every day, especially with maps that could be very tough.  Probably try the moonwad club for a change of pace.  It's possible I just do some text posts instead, but if I don't see you in this thread for a little while, I'll see ya around somewhere!  Anyway...

 

 

Map 16 Beluga Sanctuary

What else can be said, this is an absolutely gorgeous and fitting end to such a great project, and I didn't even know the towers were real life landmarks!  Thankfully you don't quite have to two shot the cyber demon so I'm able to super shotgun the archvile.  The platform section is daunting at first but it's really not too bad as you can escape, strafe running helps, and it's early in the level.  The next fight and the two pick-a-paths are enjoyable and consistent fights which all engage in satisfying cyberdemon infighting.  Cybers tearing apart hordes of revenants is probably one of my favourite things, and also bolting straight to archviles to BFG them can be super satisfying.  I get some very clean runs in a couple of the rooms so that was awesome.  The final room is pretty messed up, as you have sniping cybers firing every which way.  I try to make some wide loops to avoid the splash damage which works fairly well.  I'm not sure what the best strategy to UV Max this is, as I was put off by the single rad suit timer, so I just take out the cybers first and then unleash the hordes and bolt for the switches.  Not sure how people did this, will read some posts after, but I found even the megaspheres weren't enough without a rad suit, and the safe squares are just too small.  So that's why I hit the switches and bolt for the teleporter, blowing up for cybers in a very enjoyable display of just desserts for sniping me for a while.  Then I meet the hardest part of the map, figuring out which way to run to the exit with the cybers blowing up in my face and revenant rockets swarming me!  I think you come out facing the right way actually, and it seemed like that last platform was a strafe jump, though I'm not sure, but I make it out alive and vow to come back one day to claim all their souls!  As the final combat map, it's a great end and one of the highlights for sure.

 

Map 17: Epilogue

What an awesome way to end a community project.  After playing such a long series, especially if you were doing a map a day, being able to walk through all the maps one last time allows you to reminisce and savour each location once again.  It might be easy to forget some maps at the end, and this lets you walk away with them all fresh in your mind.  I have fun in the video talking about my favourite and most memorable parts of each.  And I like this because even if we didn't enjoy some aspects of some maps, this has me come away positive on every one for what they contributed and the work put in.  If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to see something like this in every community project.  I mean, it may be in some others but I just haven't played through many entirely, so maybe it is a thing.  But anyway this was fantastic.

 

Figured I would post my final ranking for the maps too:

 

Spoiler

1. Beluga Sanctuary

2. Sanguine

3. Viridescent Synapse

4. October Skeleton Appreciation

5. Slaughter Factory

6. The Three Kings

7. Marble In The Blood

8. Team Rocket Slaughter

9. Technocratic Terror

10. Crossroads of Destruction

11. Crippling Legion

12. Metal Head

13. Cherry Blossom

14. Tarnished Luster

15. Duel

16. Fire In Your Eyes

17. Floody Hell

18. Epilogue Tour (awesome but not really a level)

 

[NiGHTS108]

MAP16: Beluga Sanctuary

By Antares031

Kills: 100%

Items: 76%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 9:10

 

The legacy strikes back!

I cannot imagine a better finale to this megawad, Beluga Sanctuary is a nice callback to Antares' blue masterpieces from Struggle, but visually reminds me of Swim With The Whales more actually, I think it's the very dark scenery, as are so many maps in this wad, Beluga Sanctuary is distinctly split into 4 different fights, ironically I think the first one is the second hardest! I think it demonstrates exceptionally clever monster placement, the only 2 really safe places to hide from a devastating Vile are in corners with fatso turrets next to you! The cool thing is the Revenant cages are positioned perfectly so they'll start infighting with the Cyberdemons in the centre, it's brilliant! Further around the dome are paths to the yellow and red keys which you need to open the final fight, I think my favourite is the yellow key path, a huge mosh pit of Imps that drops a handful of Viles in with Cyber-supervisors, you get a whole two Megaspheres and two Soulspheres for this fight but I don't think it dampens the fun, the red key fight is the most forgettable sadly, it's pretty fun, I like me some BFG splurges, but it IS kinda just a BFG splurge, and if you stay level headed the Arch-Viles aren't scary, and finally the last fight, you only get one RAD suit so act quick, usually I don't support this use of damaging floor but Beluga Sanctuary makes it enjoyable and explosive! I suggest rushing the Cybers as fast as possible and hitting their switches, each new one will spawn in a mass of new monsters, thankfully after the fourth one you can teleport to the exit and deal with the fight from above if you so please, Beluga Sanctuary is an amazing map and a tremendous ending to boot

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A+

 

 

MAP17: Epilogue Tour

By Bauul

Is a nice little credits map showcasing all the individual maps, pretty nice stuff, fitting for a community project

 

 

I debated back and forth on whether I wanted to talk about Micro Slaughter here and give my rankings, but I think I'll wait until after the next wad to talk about both so I can compare them

 

And speaking of which, next up is the... uh... interesting world of Haste! A land where Ribbiks, Insane_Gazebo and Benjogami run wild, I like to think of it as the extroverted younger sibling to the more reserved Micro-Slaughter, let's just say if you struggled in MSCP a lot, it's not getting much easier my friend...

[cannonball]

MAP16 - “Beluga Sanctuary” by antares031

So the final map, well it really is a spectacle. The start is rather abrasive to say the least, however being the start I think most would forgive this. You can get lucky on a reason percentage of the time and quickly nuke the Cyber and the archvile behind. The map really begins once the platforming section ends. Honestly the platforming and the first fight were made much more difficult thanks to my laptop really struggling with the map as such movement because laggy. That said the set up is absolutely fine.

Beyond this... somewhat mixed. The red key fight is a fight that somehow beat first time despite blundering around like an idiot. I don't think that is a good thing that you can beat a big fight by pure accident. The yellow key was tougher as you can easily get caught by an stray cyber rocket. Otherwise this was pretty fun, however I am a little torn about some of the archvile placements here, this is coupled with quite a glut of megaspheres. It almost feels like taking damage is expected, even those with far better skills than myself. I don't know it just felt odd, this is summed up by the fact that the megasphere in front of the teleporter to the final fight was completely pointless because I already had 200/200 health/armour.

The final fight straddles the line between being a huge thrill and being unfair. Once you figure out that the cybers at ground level are better off dead then it is a case of steamrolling them and initiating the final fight/hit the remaining switches whilst you know that your radsuit will run out. This is a pretty neat concept, and I did get 100% kills in this map. However I do wonder whether there were better options to allow players a better time in getting 100% kills, once you telefrag the cybers on the platform the level is over, what is the harm in placing a radsuit to allow players to drop down and finish everything off? Given the glut of power ups in the rest of the level, this just seemed like an odd decision.

Overall this level is a stunner, though it cause me some difficulty regarding frame rates. The gameplay is a little off to me, on one hand it feels like a power fantasy at times, but quite mean at others and it felt at times that the only strategy was to running screaming at the opposition with the BFG at hand and hope all the tracers take out the highest priority target. Out of the two Antares maps, I probably prefer the October Skeleton Appreciation, it just felt more focused gameplay wise. 

 

MAP17 - “Epilogue Tour” by Bauul

 

This was quite neat, something I haven't seen before. A nice way to cap off the wad.

 

Final thoughts

Overall this wad a pretty decent experience overall, I would say that I liked (Or better) more maps than I disliked. Like many that fringe into this category, the visuals are generally top notch and whilst micro-slaughter is the game, there is a fair amount of variety in how each other interpreted this. The pacing of this wad is pretty decent overall, it must have been a tough just sorting these out but overall I think it was well done, an exhausting map was often followed by something much less stressful.

Overall I would give this a 4/5 (The highs definitely outdo the lows for this).

As for the individual maps - Everyone likes grades, so here is my terrible effort.

 

[A+] - Map08 (Favourite map, great concept and flawless execution)

[A] - Map06 and Map13

[A-] - Map03, Map09, Map15

[B+] - Map16, Map31

(B)- Map01, Map11

[B-] - Map02, Map14

[C+] - Map04, Map05

[C-] - Map10

[D+] - Map12

[D-] - Map07 

 

Map14 was by far the most difficult, but there is plenty of maps that are harder. It certainly is in your face but as I said before I wouldn't let my suffering produce a biased viewpoint as I could see the correct strategy for beating each fight.

That's it, now onto Haste....

Edited April 14, 2022 by cannonball

[Alaxzandarz]

Played with pistol-starts on UV on DSDA-Doom

 

Map 16: Beluga Sanctuary

 

Blue Antares map. One of the prettiest maps in the set. The start is a bit questionable, I just rushed the cyber with the BFG, I don't know if that's the intended strategy. The next three fights are very enjoyable. I like that you can main the BFG in the key fights. The final fight feels a bit mean. The radiation suit puts you to a quite tight timer and there are I think six or seven cybers in the arena. I think I died to a rad suit leak at least twice, sorta wish it was 10 damage floor. Definitely liked this one.

 

Final thoughts:

 

Fun set of maps. I don't think this wad has really a single outright terrible map, allthough there are still some that I really didn't enjoy. I only really loved three of the maps, I'm probably going to try to make some casual demos of them (grinding 14 is going to be fun). This set is definitely a great introduction to slaughter and I wish that we could get a sequel somewhere in the future.

 

My final rankings:

Spoiler

1: Crippling Legion

2: Cherry Blossom

3: The Three Kings

4: Beluga Sanctuary

5: Sanguine

6: Technocratic Terror

7: Team Rocket Slaughter

8: Marble in the Blood

9: October Skeleton Appreciation

10: Viridescent Synapse

11: Tarnished Luster

12: Crossroads of Destruction

13: Fire In Your Eyes

14: Metal Head

15: Slaughter Factory

16: Floody Hell

 

[dac]

MAP 15 – Sanguine (by Aurelius)

Completed 14/04/2022

 

It took me a while to truly start this map. Less for the MAP14 induced shell shock and more because this is the most atmospherically oppressive map in the entire set. Plenty of comparisons to Ribbiks’s maps were made, and I won’t disagree with them; I will however say there’s a bit of Nirvana to it – the mapper, not the Doom 2 map or the band – and specifically, the map reminds me of a more red Entropy.

 

Also took me a while to truly start the map because you get so many options right off the bat, and that got overwhelming. Obviously the common option is to grab the armor, drop down to the rocket launcher and work your way through the map that way, but the caco-guarded megashpere and the arch-vile... Yeah, let’s just say a ton of my first attempts were the kind of using vile jumps to break the map in half. Stopped doing it after none of my attempts worked, but I’m certain speedrunners have already used this vile to its fullest.

 

(A note on finding the secret exit: I admit I’m more of a “100% the map” guy than a “Hidden arcanely” one, but it was fun nonetheless. Also agree with others, the secret arena is a LOT easier if you stop running!)

[Thelokk]

Alrighty, so that time has come, huh? Time to wade knee-deep into the big boys slaughter club!

 

Haste MAP01 - The Barbican by Scotty

HMP / 100% kills / no secrets

 

Umm, so, Haste's first map... kind of a weird one, to be honest. The map is laid out as a sort of loop, with side challenges that need to be completed in order to open up more of the map's central hub, and finally a crusher-centric last challenge before the exit.

Aesthetically, the map is certainly nice, but also certainly looks a bit generic: it's the 'usual' lava filled pit with rocky outcrops and a 'tech-meets-brick' central structure. Sure, good texturing work and all that, but it also looks a bit by the numbers, especially considering the maps to follow. 

 

I'm also not entirely sold on the combat setpieces. The two 'side-quests' pit you against two different takes on the monster closet trope, making for some claustrophobic fighting that gets even worse if you let some enemies from the starting area live before you drop down. Both fights... it's hard to explain, they're not 'bad', they work as fights, but they really feel by the numbers and generic, as if they were thrown onto the map with, pardon the pun, excessive haste. I also had the problem, a couple of times, of actually being locked into one of the fights because I had run out of ammo, and had nothing to shoot the exit switch. 

Regardless, once you overcome both fights, you can finally unlock the full power of the map's central arena... which is not a whole lot. I mean, I played the map literally ten minutes ago and can't even remember what I actually fought ( I think there were some imps and HK in it?). Talk about unmemorable...

 

After a very tedious baron of hell-filled corridor (which gets slightly less tedious, but not by much, if you can goad the barons into the following room) we access the final fight, where we might turn the power of hell's crushers against their own. Again, been there, done that. Couple more pinkies, and you're out.

 

Yeah, not the best start. I mean, we're talking Scotty, so of course the map is good, but it's more of an 'alright, competent job, you get a passing grade' good than the 'whoa, nice one!' kind of good. Even as a MAP01 to me it feels hurried and just all around alright but nothing more. It lacks that 'spark', that surprise element, a problem that (woohoo, foreshadowing!) pretty much all of scotty's maps have in the context of Haste. Like it or not, some names come with a baggage, and I couldn't help but expect more. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Thelokk

[NiGHTS108]

- HASTE -

 

MAP01: The Barbican

By Scotty

Kills: 100%

Items: 96%
Secrets: 100%

Time: 8:26

 

Alright, I'll admit, I used to feel more ambivalent about The Barbican, thought it was an overly cramped opener, but with 2 months of perspective from when I first played it, I've come to greatly respect this map, The Barbican in my opinion is such a special and unique MAP01, and should honestly get more love, it has that big MAP21 energy, I love how this is the tone they open with, menacing and stuffy, I'm not sure if stuffy is a word I'd use to describe the rest of the wad, but it does make an interesting point in my opinion, I love how dense the atmosphere is, I'll say I'm not head over heels with the gameplay, I've never been wild about Tyson maps of any quality in general, but I wouldn't change a second of it here, again for the vibe, love the statement those Barons and Cyber make at the ending, so overall while I think there are MAP01s that make a more polite first impression, like The Ancient Navajo Wolf Warp and Chasing Suns, The Barbican scores enough points in rawness and vibe to elevate it to a-

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: B-

 

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[dac]

MAP 16 – Beluga Sanctuary (by antares031)

Completed 14/04/2022

 

I hate those lone cyberdemons, you never know if they’ll shoot immediately or spend thirty seconds dancing while you’re not exactly sure it’s safe to go for the two-shot.

 

The answer is it’s never safe to go for the two-shot.

 

So, finale. Antares gets the honours of closing a grand adventure, and our boy pulls out all the visual stops to make this map the most memorable it can be. Here we have a mix of antares’s usual aesthetics, more prominent than his first map of the set, combined with something that is definitely Ribbiks – Swim with the Whales, an excellent mapset of its own. Really, if anything is bad about this map’s aesthetics, it is that the palette once again does not do this map any favours, and I could have gone with a more soothing blue.

 

Anyway, after the two-shot exercise the rest of the fights are rather simple in execution, not exactly a victory lap but nothing is truly nasty despite all the cyberdemons. Infighting is the name of the game for the first fight – kill the vile, let the cybers aggro all the revenants, BFG when they’re not looking, we’re good to go. This strategy is kept similar through all the fights: viles go first, let the infighting thin out the horde, kill the cybers, wipe the stragglers. Only the yellow key fight proved to be troublesome, and it’s mostly because imps provided a lot of visual noise.

 

After a final telefrag and some straferun hopping, that’s it, Micro-Slaughter has been slain!

 

 

Final Notes

 

Well, that was a lot of fun! Of course the usual caveats about community projects applies here, namely the grand variance in quality, but there’s way more good than awful here. And most of the time, this set fulfills the mission of being accessible slaughter, and I fully expect a sequel to be set in motion once Bauul rests a bit.

 

Spoiler

(Might contribute to this sequel if it happens. Do not worry, I was raised by Gazebo 😛)

Won’t do a full ranking, but:

 

TOP 3

MAP06 – Slaughter Factory (by Guardsoul)

MAP13 – Technocratic Terror (by Bridgeburner)

MAP08 – The Three Kings (by Chester)

 

 

DIOS MIO, LA CREATURA

MAP14 – Crippling Legion (by Dubzzz)

[Bauul]

Thank you to everyone who played through MSCP!  Lots of great debate and opinions which I have loved reading, and to see a few people say they feel like they have a better appreciation for slaughter means the whole thing was worthwhile!  As a few people have pointed out, as a community project it's always going to be a variety of takes on the theme, some more effective than others, but after a year of hindsight there genuinely isn't anything I would fundamentally change about it.

 

I also am thrilled people appreciated the credits map.  It was a last-minute idea I threw together literally the night before the idgames upload (hence it's a bit janky in places) because I thought it might be nice to be able to reminisce about the levels in an easy format.  It'll definitely be something I'll do again for MSCP 2.

 

Which, incidentally, I will be definitely organizing at some point in the future (once my adorable, but extremely time-consuming new daughter is less of a handful!).

 

I hope everyone enjoys the fantastic Haste, and MSCP proved a suitable warm-up course!

[NiGHTS108]

2 minutes ago, Bauul said:

MSCP 2

AW YEAH!

[RHhe82]

MAP01: The Barbican. HMP, PS, 110/110 kills, 0/0 secrets, 60/60 items. Comp. time 10:45.

 

I played this after completing MSCP MAP01 on UV (at the end of March, before playing the rest of MSCP), pretty sure of myself. I remember seeing Decino play this, and while I don’t remember exact details of his playthrough, I wager he made it look easy. For the first 8 minutes I had only minor trouble, although I think there’s no way I’ll be playing this saveless. I had to reload frequently, but I didn’t need midfight saves.

 

Then there was the final arena, cramped with crushing ceiling, barons, some imps and revenants and the cyberdemon. I made attempts for quite some time (20 minutes on this section alone?) before even realizing it can be done. Or more precisely I can do it. And I did, I beat the Cyberdemon showdown without midfight saves. But it left me with scars: I might need to tone down to HNTR before long, if HMP starts like this.

 

The level itself is lovely: it’s short and economic, and it’s beautiful. Barbican is a sort of level I would love to be able to make myself layout- and detail-wise. It’s non-linear - I think you can choose which way to go at start, yet you never feel like backtracking even if you always return to the starting platform. There is no places in the level that feels like padding (looking at you, CC1 maps).

 

[I rewatched Decino’s playthrough of this map. I don’t get how he could get so easily past the final area, it almost looks like nothing special, he just doesn’t get hit, barons simply refrain themselves of swarming the tunnel unlike they did to me…]

[RonnieJamesDiner]

I’d also like to drop a big thank you to everyone for the kind words regarding MAP08, it means a lot! It was great to see MSCP picked up by the club this month, I think Bauul nailed what he set out to create and I was proud to accompany so many talented mappers. Seeing the response to the project in general has been awesome.

 

I’ve actually been quietly, patiently waiting for the middle of the month to arrive. Haste had been on my radar even before its release, and for whatever reason, I never took the time to sit down and play it. But, this seems like the perfect opportunity to change that, and I’m very, very excited to see what these folks were up to!

 

I’ll be playing with DSDA, pistol starts, and trying each map twice – first on Hey, Not Too Rough, and then again on Ultra-Violence.

 

MAP01: The Barbican, by Scotty

HNTR and UV

 

Given the list of mappers involved in the project, I’ll admit that I approached every room, switch, and pickup with a healthy dose of apprehension. I wasn’t sure what “entry level Haste difficulty” might look like, and my courage was helped in no way by the ass-puckeringly small scale of each arena here. In all cases however, that anxiety vanished with Scotty’s wonderful use of the combat space. Adjustments between HNTR and UV felt polished and mindful, encouraging me to approach most of the map in a different way on my second run. The Arch-Viles, for instance – and specifically the one appearing first along the red key path – were a fun surprise to find on my UV playthrough, nearly giving me a heart attack and absolutely driving home the value in using my ammo effectively.

 

Overall, the map felt like a quick crash course in how to tackle tight spaces without letting myself get boxed in, or eating too many projectiles in the process, with the final room seemingly designed to sit me down and say, “look, either you’re onboard with this, or you’re not”. Interestingly, the Megasphere on HNTR allowed me to fumble my way through this fight with very little “intent” or strategy – I managed to flail from side to side, and soak up just enough damage to tip-toe across the finish line. On UV, repeated deaths led me to discover that I could coax the Barons into waking up the Cyberdemon for me, and quickly clear the side galleries while Cybie kept the Barons from ever really breaking out of their corridor. Nice!

 

It’s hard to know just how much this level reflects the adventure ahead, but it certainly left me wanting more! Lovely intro.

Edited April 15, 2022 by RonnieJamesDiner

[Maribo]

Thanks to Bauul and all the other mappers who showed up to give commentary about their maps. It's great to hear about the design process and what someone thinks of their own map(s). :)

 

Playing catch up once again:
 

MAP14: Crippling Legion

Disco.

Watch the max and pacifist runs on DSDA, they do better than words can do for what playing a dubz map feels like :^)

 

MAP15: Sanguine

Sanguine, indeed. I did some optimization to the pacifist run for this map this evening, it was too tempting when I saw that it had 3 AVJs. The background of this map wowed me when I first played it and it still does, as does the exit... What can I say, I'm a sucker for things like it. I'm also a sucker for pushing a button and having a gun spit out at you. :P

 

MAP31: Duel

REAL slaughter.

 

MAP16: Beluga Sanctuary

You have no idea how much I love the way you compose slaughter, antares. Thank you.

Spoiler

Decay deserves a medal for sitting through the starting room in the pacifist run.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP16: "Beluga Sanctuary" by antares031 

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/1 secrets

 

Such a cool looking map, it features SWTW-esque abstract blue and black aesthetic, and the architecture features neat recreations of real-life buildings and monuments. I love the way the map uses blue skull keys as decorations, they are used both closer where you can see them and on the skyscrapers where they give off the illusion of small blinking lights. Ingenious design went into this one for sure. Love the midi as well, another Tristan Clark joint that complements the atmosphere perfectly.

 

While not up there with the absolute hardest this wad has to offer, this map offers up a nice level of challenge. It opens up with a narrow corridor ended by a cyberdemon with an archvile right behind. Take him down in 2 or 3 BFG shots as you only have 3, and then you have some narrow ledge platforming to do. From here the map has 4 main fights, with common threads between them being archviles you'll want to kill ASAP and multiple cyberdemons. The opening fight has two cybies and one archie, with revenants, mancubi, and chaingunner stationed around. BFG the archie, SSG the chaingunners, and circle around the area as the cyberdemons take care of the rest. After that, the cyberdemons are easy to deal with.

 

The next two fights are for the red and yellow keys, and they can be taken on in whichever order. The red key fight serves up two more cyberdemons with 4 archviles and a ton of revenants. Similarly to the opening fight, I BFG the archies first and then let whatever revenants survived get mixed up with the cyberdemons before I finish them off. The yellow key fight has two cyberdemons and two archviles, and teleports in a bunch of imps to make things extra cramped. The archviles and imps are pretty simple to take down, but man those cyberdemons are awkward to BFG. I died more times than I'd like to admit to accidentally catching a rocket to these guys while BFGing them.

 

The final fight drops you in damaging black liquid with one radsuit. A whopping 8 cyberdemons pop up, 4 on a tall centre pedestal, and 4 in each corner. Kill one of the cybies and approach the switch that he guards to trigger absolute chaos in the arena. There are two archviles standing on platforms and two that roam free among the hordes, the latter two can get pretty annoying to take out. Once you do though, you want to balance circle-strafing with also taking out everything fast enough before the radsuit runs out and the 20 damage liquid starts eating you alive. Each of the 4 lower cyberdemons hides a switch, and you likely have one hit to start, so you'll need to go for the other three. Once you hit them all you can access the teleporter to telefrag the 4 higher cyberdemons simultaneously and exit the level. This fight is both very fun and a bit aggravating. The positioning of the cyberdemons makes getting hit by stray rockets an extremely frequent thing, and dying to your radsuit running out after nearly everything else is dead is not a nice feeling. Still a great fight in any case. Really this whole map felt very Antares in the sense that he always seems to know exactly how much space to give you in the more slaughtery encounters, so you always feel pushed yet not overly oppressed.

 

Very good map, the visual craftsmanship here is astounding and the fights are all fun.

 

MAP17: "Epilogue Tour" by Bauul

 

A credits map, and a very neat one. It takes you through each map in the wad via a series of teleporters for a little victory map and a reminder of all you've accomplished. Love it.

 

Final thoughts: I really like this wad a lot. I spoke a lot about having played the first 8 maps before, and they were kind of an introduction of slaughter to me at the time. Which is to say, I have played slaughter before, but those maps were the first time I put effort into trying to beat slaughtermaps saveless at all, having only really beaten slaughtermaps before through savescumming. I can say that they made a perfect introduction and my experience with those maps made me a much better player than I was before. MAP14 obviously being an exception as it's probably much too cruel for a beginner, but I kinda dig its inclusion anyway, it's a great map. Also of course, the visuals and midi choices are superb throughout as well.

 

There isn't a map here that I flat-out dislike, everybody brought it in some way. Likewise it's hard to pick anything as a favourite map here, but I especially adored:

 

MAP13: Outstanding visuals, and felt a lot more like a fully fleshed out map than a small taste of slaughter. In my opinion it pulls off the latter without feeling too out of place as well, which is nice.

MAP06: Absolutely love the pace this map has. It has that freedom and forgiveness that is nice for an earlier map in the set, yet is still just incredibly fun to play.

MAP08: As others have alluded to, when I think of this wad I think of this map as pulling off the intent of this project the best. It's short, perfectly calibrated, and can teach a new player a lot about coming up with the best plan. Plus the visuals are incredible.

MAP09: Not sure what more to say apart from this map just being super fun. The last fight especially is wildly entertaining, and it was an incredibly satisfying one to figure out.

MAP15: While less of a slaughter, this was still a very enjoyable and creatively laid out non-linear experience. The abstract visuals are also extremely cool, among the best in the set.

 

Now on to Haste. I am both excited for and terrified of this one. We'll see how it goes!

[General Roasterock]

Well I hope everyone has enjoyed the warm-up, because from what I know of Haste, it doesn't take anywhere near the leisure that MSCP did. I tried playing it when it first came out, but by the time I got to Map04, my brain was already writing it off as "more of the same" when it comes to blocky abstract slaughter environments, and I wanted to wait until I was in a better mindset, which I hope is now. Considering how much I played Crippling Legion, I feel I stumbled a bit in the "I'm doing this for fun" department, so let's try again here. 

 

Map01: The Barbican

Haste01.zip

  One thing that I absolutely despise about The Plutonia Experiment is how it weaponizes foresight. My first time through the wad was wrought with paranoia and misery on account of how many untelegraphed traps there are. Now that I know what's coming in those maps, Plutonia can do absolutely nothing to challenge me outside of a few select areas. 

  Case in point, The Barbican is a very overwhelming sight that is only quelled with the ability to know what is triggered in which areas. It's nowhere near the abysmal nature of Plutonia, but the essence and inspiration still lingers. My first thought going through this map was that it was one of those run and gun loops that required you to skip a great deal of the opening encounters to be properly equipped, but now I understand that patience, as well as Berserk, is a virtue. That first fight especially encourages this, throwing so many punchable enemies your way, saving all of the monsters that actually require rockets for later encounters. I immediately ran out of bullets to escape the Red Skull path because for some reason the door is locked by a shoot switch in a map that restricts bullet ammo very effectively, and I got trapped in the Imps in the lower basin when I tried to pick up the row of Rockets. Otherwise, the encounters are pretty intuitive on a first time through. There are A LOT of Arch-Viles for as few monsters as there are, which ended up making me very cautious about my rocket usage for better or worse. The Cyberdemon fight is fine, any arena that can make avoiding accidental crossfire rockets not the biggest ordeal is positive in my book.

  I've seen quite a few maps do the REDHOT lava flat look before, but the fact that every ounce of space is utilized is really cool. Backtracking is possible for the entire map, a positive I made use of when I needed health kits I didn't pick up previously. As for the detailing, aside from the usual necessity for environmental depth, I have no idea why there's a HOM issue with the ground dead center in the lower basin with the lava.

Spoiler

It's hard to see in the game, but very much visible in the editor. If it's meant to be a deep water effect, there are much better ways to handle that.

Everything is surprisingly dark for being covered in molten lava and draped under a bright sky, but it did help with not distracting from the combat. The final fight feels somewhat disconnected from the rest of the experience, changing out the molten rock for an industrial metal basement harboring a great deal of manmade light fixtures.

  It's taken a while to set in, but I do like what the map did, it's just a strange way to open the WAD. I hope that no one will be immediately turned away by the fact that the changes in difficulty are very minimal tweaks, primarily to the amount of bullets available to tear through the lesser monsters. I imagine many of the maps do a more intensive job than this for newer players, and would really like to see those that wanted to relax with MSCP give some thoughts on this notably higher end.

 

Power Rankings: (I'll spoiler these from now on to not bloat posts)

Spoiler

1. The Barbican (Lmao)

 

Month Power Rankings:

Spoiler

1. Technocratic Terror
2. Beluga Sanctuary
3. Sanguine
4. The Three Kings
5. Cherry Blossom
6. Slaughter Factory
7. October Skeleton Appreciation
8. Fire In Your Eyes
9. The Barbican
10. Marble In The Blood
11. Viridescent Synapse
12. Duel
13. Crossroads of Destruction
14. Floody Hell
15. Tarnished Luster
16. Metal Head
17. Crippling Legion
18. Team Rocket Slaughter

 

[Thelokk]

2 hours ago, Bauul said:

MSCP 2.

 

*heavy breathing intensifies*

 

H- how long do I-I have to get g-g-good at mapping?

Edited April 15, 2022 by Thelokk

[Pseudonaut]

Haste Map01:
Haste is off to a very good start. There are plenty of strategic choices the player can make in how to tackle these fights, such as deciding which side to fall into first, which enemies to punch (most are comfortably punchable, at least until the ending fight), or where to spend your precious rockets. I suppose these decisions seemed more important to me at first because I didn't even think about punching things in an earlier playthrough for some reason, but this map is actually quite lenient, and you're unlikely to run out of rockets if you only use them on mid-tier enemies, maybe chaingunning a few revs and punching a pain elemental. It's refreshing to play a map like this after MSCP (not that I ever get tired of slaughter, of course). In contrast with the more slow-paced gameplay that precedes it, the ending is a frantic lock-in fight requiring you to survive in a tight space that you share with several barons and a cyberdemon. For some reason, I always forget that the mancs can be telefragged.

 

 

Demos (two of them, actually):

has01.zip

[Book Lord]

MAP 01 – The Barbican by @Scotty

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HMP, Pistol start, (half-)blind run w/saves

 

The monster formations facing the opposite side could be quickly associated with slaughter gameplay, but appearances can be deceiving. The opener from Scotty betrayed the original intents of this megaWAD, born to be a set of short and “accessible” combat puzzle maps. This was what I found in The Barbican, a compact level divided into four sections that demanded precise movement and quick reaction times, unless the player has some foreknowledge of the ambushes.

Spoiler

The limited room for manoeuvre was enforced by the rationed ammo, especially at the start where the Berserk was the only option to finish off the Imps and save at least some bullets. This was the second time I was playing this map and I knew that jumping on the right-hand side was a problem with low ammo, so I went left and faced a Revenant and two chaingunners in harmless lava. The aesthetics relied on red and metal tones, giving the place a menacing air with those blood-dripping walls.

 

Both wings contained bite-sized fights, ending with the obligatory Arch-Vile (on UV) and just enough rockets to kill him if all shots hit the target. The right is harder than the left if faced without spare ammo, so it is recommended to go left first, gather some supplies in the outdoor area (beware of teleport ambush) and then go right. The YSK and the RSK were gained after completing each wing and they were used to open a door, release Revenants and the frozen Mancubi, get back on top of The Barbican to collect the BSK and move to the last section. This was a supremely cramped affair with a Cyberdemon, several Barons, two ledges full of snipers, and four crushers that got in the way. Without a BFG, the only option was to provoke infighting and hope the Cyberdemon received enough damage to be swiftly finished off. I liked the strict nature of the encounters, though I found that knowing what to expect was necessary to overcome the challenges, at least for ordinary players like me. For this reason, the choice between left and right after the start was a bit deceptive.

 

Time: 11:32    Deaths: 2

[tonytheparrot]

Haste is an other wad I have played before, it was my second "slaughter/difficult" wad after MSCP and I remember it being much harder. I also remember slightly prefering MSCP, but after having a bit more experience with these kinds of wads and getting better at the game, let's see if my opinion will change!

 

(Played on UV with pistol starts on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 1: The Barbican by Scotty

100% kills, items and secrets

Time: 6:31

 

This level is Haste's introduction and just like with MSCP, it is a lava themed map, except that this one is more hellish. A strong sense of dread is created by that Hexen midi and the visuals, while simple, work very well, as expected from a hell map. Combat-wise, oh boy it doesn't mess around, you know that you're in for a rough time when you start the wad with lost souls in front of you, zombies on the sides, imps on platforms you can't reach yet and 2 chaingunners in the walls. Health and ammo are generally scarce, the enemies are tough, and the space pretty small. You have two paths to choose from, but I like to start with the left one. It leads to a few monsters you need to kill including an arch-vile when you leave, which is harder than it sounds with low ammo and small space. Then, you get access to a switch that allows you to get the red key, but you can also drop down to the northern area, grab ammo and trigger a difficult ambush with lots of shotgunners and imps. The right path takes you to an area with lifts dropping monsters one at a time, you get a chaingunner, a few imps, 2 revs, 1 caco and pain elemental. It allows you to grab the yellow key. Using both keys in the northern area raises cover, triggers an ambush with 2 archies, 2 sniping mancubi, and a rev on a pillar, but allows you to get the blue key, which takes you to the final and best fight in the map. Run past all the barons and make them infight with the cybers while taking out a few revs and imps and dodging the crushers. Use the SSG to kill the cyber and open the exit with......2 spectres, yeah a bit anticlimactic. Overall, its a pretty good map, the combat is just fine outside of that great final room, it looks good, nails it's atmosphere, and opens the wad nicely.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Really like:

Map 1

 

[finnks13]

Haste was my favourite new release of 2021, it came out at a time that I was really craving challenging levels, I had just completed a lot of the recommended beginner slaughterwads and was starting to work my way through Stardate 20x6, when this appeared on the Wads and Mods section. I immediately downloaded and loved it, and it is one of the main inspirations for the mapset I am currently working on now. I'm really excited to give the wad another play, and I hope it lives up to my memories of it.

 

MAP01 - The Barbican by Scotty:

DEATHS - 3
An opener that means business. While the monster count is pretty low, the fights don't mess around and certainly set the pace for what's to come. I love a good hell fortress, so the aesthetics here definitely agree with me, though I don't like that the lava isn't damaging - I took a death to trying to avoid it that was probably unnecessary with that knowledge. I think the red key path is much harder than the yellow key path, there's very little cover and the cacodemons and revenant can really mess you up. The little shotgunner + imp surprise at the bottom of the map was a fun encounter. The yellow key path was also pretty fun, I panicked upon seeing the pain elemental and berserked it to death, which worked out surprisingly well for me as everything else had quite a lot of issues getting to me in the monster closet I was hiding in.

 

I somehow missed the fact that I had a rocket launcher until I completed both of these fights, I'm not sure if it would have made them that much easier, but it was a shame regardless. The finale against a cyberdemon and a load of barons in a small room filled with crushers isn't too bad as it's fairly easy to get the barons and cyberdemon to infight allowing you to kill the sniping revenants and imps in peace before SSGing the cyber to death. It seems to serve more as a warning to players than absurdly hard challenge. I like this map, it's a good opening statement for the wad.

 

RANKINGS:

Spoiler

Really Liked:
Liked: MAP01
Eh:
Didn't Like:

 

[Arwel]

Haste Map1 - The Barbican by Scotty

UV, 100% kills, no secrets

 

First minutes reveal we have something very different here. And this time I struggle to tell what it reminds me or what it looks similar to. Of course one can immediately say "Plutonia" every time there are two chaingunners in the walls or when in general small amounts of monsters are organized in particularly deadly ways, but this gets old fast, and this level doesn't really give me Plutonia flashbacks. Visuals suggest more traditional texture usage, but it doesn't really look like anything vanilla to me. Colors emit some really nasty and oppressive vibes, that's for sure. Combat has elements of everything: little bit slaughterish, somewhat puzzle, sometimes pure skill, a grain of ammo conservation, and whatnot. Proportions in which these elements are present feel new to me. During my first blind playthrough I somehow tysoned half the level and dealt with the rest using just few sparse saves without much problem. Turns out that was some kind of lottery tier luck, because thing's quite hard to beat saveless consistently, and I die rather often even in the first two fights. I'm really happy to play something challenging that feels like a new thing again, and this map is a great opener!